-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Described as the largest single gathering of displaced residents in the world today , tens of thousands of civilians are seeking shelter along the Afgooye corridor outside Mogadishu , according to the United Nations .

Members of the U.S. Navy take a young Somali boy to safety after rescuing him and 51 others adrift in a skiff .

Fighting between government forces and Islamist militias has triggered the flight of more than 67,000 Somalis in and around Mogadishu since May 8 , the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday .

Most of them are heading to the Afgooye corridor , a 30-kilometer -LRB- 19-mile -RRB- stretch of ramshackle housing described by the United Nations ' World Food Program as `` a nightmare . ''

The corridor between Mogadishu and the town of Afgooye is already home to 400,000 displaced Somalis , some of them living in huts made of twigs and branches . The clinics are already overwhelmed with malnourished and sick children .

This week , Somalia 's transitional president , Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed , asked the international community `` to help Somalia defend against foreign militants who have invaded the country . ''

Ahmed told local journalists Monday that he feared these foreign fighters would turn Somalia into another Iraq or Afghanistan , where U.S.-led forces are fighting Islamic extremist groups .

The fighting has cut supplies of `` desperately needed humanitarian aid '' to the displaced Somalis near the capital city , according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees .

`` We are starting today the distribution of aid for some 50,000 people in Afgooye corridor through our local partners in Somalia , '' the refugee office said Tuesday . `` Today 's distribution will include cooking sets , plastic sheeting , blankets and mats . ''

The number of Somali refugees fleeing to nearby countries also continues to rise , with some 500,000 already in Kenya , Ethiopia , Uganda , Djibouti , Eritrea and Tanzania .

Many Somalis have also made the dangerous journey across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen .

On Saturday , a U.S. guided missile destroyer rescued a group of 52 Somali men women and children -- including a woman who was eight months pregnant -- who had been stranded aboard a small skiff for nearly a week off Somalia 's coast , the U.S. Navy said . See photos of the rescue ''

A helicopter based on the USS Lake Champlain happened to spot the stranded mariners , according to the vessel 's commanding officer .

`` It 's fortunate that our helicopter was flying over the right place at the right time , '' Capt. Kevin P. Campbell said in a U.S. Navy news release . `` I 'm glad we were able to be of assistance and rescue these men , women and children . Our chief hospital corpsman stated that had we not found them at the time we did , the pregnant woman may not have survived . ''

USS Lake Champlain has been deployed as part of the U.S. 5th Fleet 's mission to patrol the Gulf of Aden region , which has been plagued by pirate attacks off Somalia 's coast .

`` We were very fortunate to have come across these people in the state they were in , '' said the ship 's chaplain , Lt. j.g. Jarrod Johnson . `` Seeing their condition really makes your heart go out to them . You can see the relief and hope in their eyes , and hear it in their conversation . ''

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Fighting has triggered flight of more than 67,000 Somalis since May 8

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Most heading to Afgooye corridor , a 30-kilometer stretch of ramshackle housing

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President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed speaking at a conference in Mogadishu

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Ahmed fears foreign fighters will turn Somalia into another Iraq or Afghanistan